Retirement rankings
Use these retirement rankings to move from broad national lists into the county, metro, state, and comparison pages that match the tradeoffs driving your search.
Best Places to Retire
Start here for the broadest all-around retirement ranking across cost, healthcare, climate, air quality, risk, and retiree fit.
View rankingBest Affordable Places to Retire
Use this ranking when keeping everyday cost and housing pressure under control matters most.
View rankingBest Places to Retire on Social Security
Start here if retirement income flexibility matters more than premium lifestyle markets.
View rankingBest Places to Retire for Healthcare
Use this ranking when access to hospitals, specialists, and broader medical infrastructure is the top priority.
View rankingBest Places to Retire with Mild Weather
Start here if climate comfort matters more than squeezing out the very lowest cost.
View rankingBest Places to Retire with Low Natural-Disaster Risk
Use this ranking if broad exposure to hurricanes, wildfire, flooding, or other major hazards matters heavily in the decision.
View rankingBest Places to Retire for Clean Air
Start here if air quality is one of the first filters in your retirement search.
View rankingBest Retirement Counties in the U.S.
Use this ranking when you want a county-first national view instead of starting from states or metros.
View rankingBest Retirement Metros in the U.S.
Use this ranking when metro-level healthcare, services, and everyday convenience matter most.
View rankingState-by-category pages
Use these pages when the state is already decided and you want a faster path around affordability, healthcare, climate comfort, or lower broad risk.
State county-first and metro-first pages
These pages sit between broad state pages and individual county or metro profiles, which makes them useful once the region is already narrowed.
How to use the site now
Start broad with a national ranking, then use a state page or a state county-first or metro-first ranking page to narrow faster. From there, open individual county, metro, and compare pages for the tradeoffs that matter most.
How to use this ranking
Use this page to build a shortlist, then click into the county, metro, and state pages to understand why those places score well. When two finalists are close, move into a compare page so the tradeoffs are easier to see side by side.
How rankings, place pages, and compare pages work together
The strongest path through the site is usually rankings first, then a state or place page, then a compare page once the shortlist is down to two. That path makes the scorecards easier to interpret and keeps the tradeoffs clear.
How to use this ranking
Use this page to build a shortlist, then click into the county, metro, and state pages to understand why those places score well. When two finalists are close, move into a compare page so the tradeoffs are easier to see side by side.
How rankings, place pages, and compare pages work together
The strongest path through the site is usually rankings first, then a state or place page, then a compare page once the shortlist is down to two. That path makes the scorecards easier to interpret and keeps the tradeoffs clear.